Birb:
Creative
Finished bird art: Black-capped chickadee
I started this bird art thing with a chickadee, but it was very simple line art (I sort of want to do some more in that specific style). Here’s another chickadee, in my now-established style.
Unfinished bird art: Hummingbird
I abandoned this sketch tonight because the reference photo was too dark and the Anna’s hummingbird was coming out way too murky.
I’ll find a better-lit photo and do another hummingbird someday, but this is interesting in a “what could have been” sort of way.
Just a quick sketch of an orange
I wanted to draw something simple and quick, and an orange is just a circle that’s…orange.
So here it is.
(This is also me getting back to the “draw something every day thing” where I’m less concerned with quality and more concerned with building good habits and a vast collection of hand-drawn fruit.)
Bird Art: Full gallery (so far)
I finally got off my lazy butt and collected all of my bird drawings in a single gallery, which I will update going forward.
Here’s a quick summary of the process:
- Tools used: iPad Pro 12.9″ (2020), Apple Pencil, Procreate
- I use a photo I’ve taken, usually one I don’t post because it’s slightly out of focus or otherwise flawed
- I do a line drawing of the bird, then colour in after
The line part usually take a few minutes, the colouring can sometimes take an hour or more, depending on the complexity. I have trended toward getting more complex with the drawings, but will still try to throw some simpler ones in.
There are also a few drawings that don’t follow the above formula, like the cobra chicken, killdeer and squirrel, which is not actually a bird.
The gallery:
Crow flying
Black-capped chickadee
Brewer's blackbird
Great blue heron
Sandhill crane
Song sparrow
Wilson's warbler, light background
Wilson's warbler, river background
Ring-billed seagull
Dark-eyed junco
Spotted sandpiper
Spotted towhee
American bushtit
Mallard duck
Red-winged blackbird
Red squirrel
Canada goose
Ring-necked duck
American coot
Brown-headed cowbird
Steller's jay
American robin
Rock pigeon
Wood duck
Caspian tern
Great blue heron
Black-capped chickadee. This was the original sketch when I thought of doing them as "pop art" with only one or two colours.
Cobra chicken, done on request using a few different brushes.
Canada goose, done with the 6B Pencil in Procreate.
Killdeer. Done using the 6B Pencil brush in Procreate before I switched to colour.
Bird art: Brewer’s blackbird
All poofy and such.
Bird art: Great blue heron
A more detailed version compared to the first heron I did in this style. Based on a photo I took at Reifel Bird Sanctuary on March 18, 2023.
Bigfoot eating pancakes
Adobe has gotten into the text AI business and claims their system avoids the whole “using artistic works without the artist’s permission” thing–which is great! They’ll probably attach a hefty subscription price to the service once it’s out of beta, which is…vintage Adobe.
For now, it’s free, and I’m in the beta, so here is Bigfoot eating pancakes on a sunny outdoor deck.
Proposed site logo, 2023 edition
Yeah, I’m still mulling the site redesign. I’ll get to it eventually. Probably.
In the meantime, I used Canva and some stock objects and background to make this:
And this:
Both are magical. I didn’t even notice I’d used a Star Trek font in the second one until later.
Also, apparently I have a thing for pickles? How Freudian!
Now, I won’t actually use these for site logos, but part of me really wants to. I will continue to mull what to really do…
Bird art: Sandhill crane
These birds have about a billion feathers, each of them individually coloured. Capturing this accurately would have taken me until 2083.
Still, I like it.
Caution: Sign ahead
I saw this sign in a washroom today and felt compelled to edit the text. I’d thought of doing this before, but today I did it.
It’s also possible that I already did it and forgot, too. Regardless, enjoy! And be careful out there.
Bird art: song sparrow
I normally use “rejected” photos for my bird art, ones that are a little blurry or have some kind of defect, but I usually have good luck with song sparrows. Saturday’s birding did produce some slightly fuzzy photos, so at last I have a song sparrow to add to the collection.